Mid-Atlantic Ocean Action Plan Now Available For Public Comment

Authority for this planning process was set forth in 2010 by Presidential Executive Order 13547, Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes, which established a National Ocean Policy to guide the protection, maintenance and restoration of the United States' oceans and coasts.

The NOP calls for the creation of regional planning bodies to coordinate and implement regional ocean planning with state, Federal, tribal and fishery management council representatives. Accordingly, the Mid-Atlantic RPB was formally established in April 2013.

Pennsylvania participates with Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey and New York in this collaborative ocean-planning effort.

Comments on the draft Plan are being accepted through September 6. A series of open house listening sessions are being held to engage stakeholders in the planning process, although none are being held in Pennsylvania.

At the completion of public participation, the Plan will be reviewed by all participating agencies with a goal of completing Plan review by mid-September 2016. If approved, the Plan will be submitted to the National Ocean Council for approval by December 31, 2016.

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About Me

This Blog is a companion to www.PaEnvironmentDigest.com, the weekly online newsletter published by Crisci Associates, Harrisburg, PA.
I can be contacted at 717-576-0420 or by sending email to: DHess@CrisciAssociates.com.
I served as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection from 2001 to 2003, Executive Deputy at DEP from 1995 to 2001, as staff to the PA Senate Environmental Committee and various positions in the former Department of Environmental Resources, working on environmental issues for over 40 years.